1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to microbe cultures, a process for producing the same, and utilization thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to microbe cultures containing anaerobic and aerobic microbes, which cannot hitherto live in symbiosis with each other, living in symbiosis with each other, and enzymes, which are metabolites of these microbes, the process for producing the same, carriers and absorbing materials containing the active ingredients of the culture and their applications to agricultural and environmental fields.
2. Background Arts
In recent years, applications of microbes to agricultural and environmental fields have received considerable attention from ecological viewpoint.
Attempts have been made to apply soil improving materials based on microbe technologies to soil which has become exhausted due to the use of a large amount of agricultural chemicals, and dormant soil in crop rotation.
For example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 4-42355 discloses that a mixture obtained by injecting root nodule bacteria and Azotobacter or photosynthetic bacteria and Thiobacillus to a culture comprising an aqueous sterile plant solution having sucrose or maltose added thereto, cultivating the bacteria at approximately 25 C., and mixing the culture with a separately prepared culture composed of nitrifying bacteria, yeast, thermophiles, Bacillus subtilis, and bacteria belonging to Pseudomonas has the ability to accelerate thermal maturing, to increase the effects of fertilizer, to make remaining chemicals harmless, and to suppress insects causing damage to crops.
However, the conventional method is disadvantageous in that the soil to which it can be applied is restricted to soil stained by chemicals or dormant soil in crop rotation, and yeast which can be used is also restricted to that from rice bran. In addition, it takes a very long period of time to return the soil to normal soil.
Recently, the environment is increasingly being destroyed due to desertification or acidic rains, and such phenomena have become worldwide problems.
In order to plant such an exhausted area with trees, an effort has been made to plant trees by placing a high water absorbing polymer as a base material, and applying water to the base material in order to grow trees. However, the high water absorbing polymer is expensive and plants to be applied are restricted. In addition, the soil which has been desertified is never returned to the original soil.
Similarly, man-made destruction of the environment such as that due to slash and burn farming and haphazard deforestation creates serious problems in terms of plant environment. No process has yet been found in which the soil whose crumb structure has been lost due to the man-made destruction of environment can be returned to the original state.
Moreover, there is a need to utilize soils containing salt such as a sandy beach, sandy soils such as residing around rivers, etc. as soils where desired crops can be planted, but there is no technique at present.
In addition to agriculture, gardening such as cultivating dwarf trees, gardening as a pastime, etc has become popularized. Ornamental plants, vegetables, herbs and other plants are cultivated not only by breeders but also household. In cultivating these plants, generally a solid medium for cultivating plants is incorporated into a container such as a flowerpot, a planter, and then seeds or tubers are embedded into the medium or young plants are transplanted.
However, the solid medium which has hitherto been utilized in the cultivation of such plants contains a considerable amount of insects carrying disease germs and eggs thereof, fungi, etc., which have an adverse influence upon the plants to be cultivated. Specifically, due to the eggs of insects, the insects themselves, or pathogenic bacteria, such as lead scald, powdery mildews, root knots, root rot, brown canker, rust and the like, plants often are infected from the solid medium such as soil. Depending upon the origin of the medium, the medium often contains agricultural chemicals and some other harmful substances. Moreover, insects etc. are oviposited into the medium or onto a plant during the cultivation of the plant, and the bred insects sometimes adversely affect the plant.
In order to eliminate such insects, mildews etc. existing on or into the solid medium, agricultural chemicals are conventionally applied to the medium. However, if the crumb structure inherent to the soil should be lost when the insects and harmful microorganisms are eliminated by the spraying of agricultural chemicals, this makes the soil inappropriate for the cultivation of plants. Particularly, in the case of the cultivation of plants in a container, excess water flows out when a plant in a container is watered; the agricultural chemicals unduly remain in the water which flows out. Further, in the case of the cultivation of edible plants, the agricultural chemicals cause an adverse effect to the human body.
When the plants are cultivated, solid or liquid fertilizers are incorporated into the medium. These fertilizers are mainly chemically synthesized fertilizers and thus, the medium in which chemical fertilizers are incorporated is greatly different from the original medium for cultivating the plants. In this case, the period of fertilization and the amount of fertilizer to be applied should be strictly controlled.
Similar to the cultivation of plants, solid media such as sawdust or decayed wood are used for cultivating mushrooms, and such medium also contains Eumycetes, insects, and their eggs.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 4-42355 discloses the admixture of microorganisms with the medium or plants themselves. According to this publication, a mixture obtained by injecting root nodule bacteria and Azotobacter or photosynthetic bacteria and Thiobacillus to a culture comprising an aqueous sterile plant solution having sucrose or maltose added thereto, cultivating the bacteria at approximately 25 C., and mixing the culture with a separately prepared culture composed of nitrifying bacteria, yeast, thermophiles, Bacillus subtilis, and bacteria belonging to Pseudomonas has the ability to accelerate thermal maturing, to increase in effects of fertilizer, to make remaining chemicals harmless, and to suppress insects causing damage to crops.
However, in the application of such a group of bacteria there are disadvantages in that it takes a very long period of time to take the effect after the application of these bacteria, and that the effect is last only a short time. Also, the group of bacteria cannot be applied to a plant cultivated in a container.
Also, the solid medium after the cultivation of an annual plant or the solid medium after plants have been harvested cannot be utilized again if these bacteria are used.
Moreover, these bacteria do not have an effect to activate any withering plant.
Meanwhile, various processes for taking measures to cope with bad smells based on the functions of bacteria have been known.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-277684 discloses a process for deodorizing a bad smelling gas utilizing bacteria.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 51-129865, 53-58375, and 60-34799 disclose processes for decoloring and deodorizing sewage disposal, excreta, etc.
However, these processes are disadvantageous in requiring at least two stages, due to the use of different kinds of bacteria, i.e., anaerobic and aerobic bacteria.
In recent years, processes for treating waste water, for improving soils, etc. and insecticides utilizing Effective Microbes called EM which have living anaerobic bacteria and aerobic bacteria together with each other, mainly containing lactobacilli have been developed. However, substantially aerobic bacteria and facultative bacteria are used in EM and, thus the synergism of both bacteria is little. In the use of EM, fermentation material call EM material should be utilized and making the application of EM is severely restricted.
Meanwhile, a large amount of seston is contained in lakes, marshes, rivers, etc. Seston is a general term for granular substances suspended in water and indicates organic seston originated in floating living bodies and inorganic seston originated in earth and sand or particles. In many cases, sestons are together with each other to make up as agglomeration. The organic seston sometimes serves as a place habitable for small creatures. However, it changes the transparency of water for the worse, and becomes a factor in the generation of water blooms due to the rotting of the organic seston and, thus, it is desirable to remove the organic seston. The inorganic seston contained in exhaust water from chemical factories, etc. is a mass containing harmful substances and, it is also desirable to remove it.
Conventionally, in order to treat the water containing the seston, seston is aggregated by the use of a flocculant such as aluminum sulfate, and the seston is removed by the filtration of settling substances or floating substances. However, in the treatment utilizing such a flocculent, the flocculant utilized should be subjected to secondary treatment, and the performance of the flocculant is insufficient. Moreover, there is a possibility that the flocculant causes an adverse influence upon the ecologic system and, thus the use of the flocculant is not assumed to be a good method. In addition, since there are various kinds of water to be treated such as organic exhausts inclusive in the exhaust water from sewage disposal, exhaust water from food processing, exhaust water containing excreta such as pig-breeding and stockbreeding, and water from eutrophic lakes and marshes; inorganic exhausts such as exhaust water from chemical industries, there are various kinds of sestons, and they cannot be treated by one flocculent.
In treating water from a lake or marsh, the stage for removing harmful substances contained in the water, the stage for decoloration, and the deodorization stage should be required in addition to the removal of seston.
In light of the above situations, it is desired to develop a flocculant (1) that requires no secondary treatment such as removal of the flocculant; (2) that has no adverse influence upon the ecological system; (3) that can be widely applied irrelevant to the origin of the seston, i.e., organic and inorganic sestons; and (4) that can treat harmful substances, and decolor and deodorize subjective substances at the same time.
It is desirable that water blooms occurring onto and into the hydrosphere, which have been eutrophicified, be removed. Also, it is desirable to remove petroleum flowing in the sea area, for example, due to a shipping accident such as an accident of a tanker; thus, it is desirable to develop an effective treating means.
In addition, a biological treatment of filthy water containing excrements and urines exhausted from various stockbreeding fields such as pick-breeding fields, cowsheds, and chicken farms as well as household exhaust water, exhaust water from chemical industries, food industries and the like containing various components has recently drawn considerable attention.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 55-86593, 60-137492, 6-71293, 9-20678, and the like disclose processes of separately treating exhaust water with anaerobic bacteria and aerobic bacteria. However, these processes can only treat exhaust water in a restricted manner and are not assumed to be effective. No process has been developed which can treat pollutants originating from different sources all at once.
Efforts have been made to develop a biological process for converting harmful substances into harmless ones.
Many halogen compounds having chlorine or bromine, etc. are specified as specific chemical compounds and specified chemical compounds, and many of them are sources causing an environmental problem. Typical examples include halogenated aromatic compounds such as dioxins, polychlorobiphenyls, and chlorobenzenes; and aliphatic halogen compounds such as tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, dichlorometahne, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloroethylene, 1,1-dichloroethylene, cis-1,2-dichloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and 1,1,2-trichloroethane, 1,3-dichloropropene.
Various suggestions have been made to decompose these organic halogen compounds based on the functions of bacteria.
With regard to the decomposition of organic aliphatic compounds, a process for removing an organic chlorine compound comprising injecting ammonia-oxidizing bacteria with a polluted portion contaminated with organic chlorine substances such as soil or contaminated groundwater to allow the contaminants to be in contact with the ammonium-oxidizing bacteria is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-180237.
A process for purifying a substance contaminated with organic chlorine compounds comprising declorinating the chlorine contaminating compounds under a reduction atmosphere under neutral conditions in the presence of at least one heterotrophic bacterium and iron is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-216694. The heterotrophic bacteria exemplified therein include metanogens (for example, Methanosarcina, Methanothrix, Methanobacterium, Methanobrevibacter, etc.); sulfate reduction bacteria (for example, Desulfovibrio, Desulfotomaculum, Desulfobacterium, Desulfobacte, Desulfococcus, etc); acid production bacteria (for example, Clostridium, Acetivibrio, Bacteroides, Ruminococcus, etc.) and faculative anaerobic bacteria (for example, Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Aeromonas, Streptococcus, Micrococcus, etc.).
However, such processes can only be applied to restricted systems such as soil and aqueous solutions, and are problematic in treating efficiency, cost, convenience, etc. In order to maintain the activity of the bacteria for the treatment, the temperature, pH level, nutrient salts, the amount of dissolved oxygen, and the like should be controlled in an appropriate manner and, thus, the process is disadvantageous when an apparatus is required for an environment where oxygen or nutrient salts are continuously being added.
As a process for decomposing an aromatic halogen compound, there is a process for decomposing PCBs utilizing microorganisms. However, the microorganisms which can be utilized depend upon the substitution position of chlorines, and the decomposition is imperfect, i.e., the conventional microorganisms can decompose PCB only to chlorobenzene. Also, the PCB decomposition utilizing the microorganisms can only be applied to a restricted area. The decomposition of other organic halogen compounds such as dioxins utilizing microorganisms has not yet been found, and these compounds are decomposed by a chemical or physical process.
Solids and liquids such as burned ash, soda glass, soil, exhaust liquid from semiconductor processing, and exhaust liquid from plating contain various kinds of heavy metals such as chromium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, zinc, lead, and mercury in various concentrations, and it is required that these metals are removed through the functions of microorganisms.
Furthermore, photographic exhaust liquids can also be mentioned as those which contains various harmful substances.
There are a series of stages from the development of photographic film to the printing of the developed film. First, a photographic film such as a negative film, positive film, or reversal film is developed, the developed film is fixed, washed with water, and dried to prepare a film for printing; thereafter, the developed film is printed onto print out paper. At present, photo-finishing service has been popularized in which these stages are carried out all at once.
Photographic films, print-out paper, and various solutions for treating them generally contain various chemicals such as a silver halide emulsion as a photosensitive material (e.g., silver bromide, silver iodide, silver iodide bromide, etc.); stabilizers (e.g., benzotriazole, azaindolysines, etc.); color sensitizers (e.g., orthochromatic, panchromatic sensitizers, super-panchromatic sensitizers etc.); hardening agents (e.g., aldehyde compounds, etc.).
Specifically, developing the film and printing the developed film onto the print-out paper are carried out via various stages such as a color developing stage, washing with running water, development adjustment and hardening, hardening, stopping, first fixation, washing with running water, second fixation, removal of water droplets, and drying, and various organic and inorganic compounds are used in each stage.
As described above, in developing the film and printing the developed film onto the print out paper, an exhaust liquid containing various compounds in which these compounds react with each other are discharged.
Depending upon the situation of the development, an auxiliary operation, for example, using chromium compounds such as potassium dichromate or mercury compounds such as mercuric chloride or a reducing operation, for example, by mixing potassium ferricyanide with sodium thiosulfate or potassium permamganate, is carried out in some cases.
As photography has been increasingly popularized and the frequency of taking photos has increased, the amount of the exhaust liquids has also increased significantly. However, with regard to the treatment of the exhaust liquid, although silver, which is a relatively expensive material, is recovered, since the compounds other than silver are of many kinds, the printing treatments depend upon the companies, and the concentration and kinds of the compounds are different according to the company, and no process for treating them which can decompose them all at once has yet been determined.
As a substance which requires conversion of chemical substances into harmless ones, porous absorbing material can be mentioned.
The porous absorbing materials represented by activated carbon have been utilized in various fields such as filters for water treatment or deodorizing filters, such as absorbing materials for treating harmful substances.
These absorbing materials exhibit their absorbing function by absorbing substances to be absorbed within many pores possessed by the absorbing material, but their function is decreased when a certain amount of the substances are absorbed.
The used porous absorbing materials are usually collected and recovered. In this case, the harmful substances absorbed are discharged out of the system. For this reason, it is necessary to take some measure to convert the discharged harmful substances, which are discharged out of the system, into harmless ones, requiring a huge cost.
At present, river sands have been utilized as fine aggregates, but the supply amount of the river sands has increasingly decreased. Also, the river sands themselves have been contaminated and, thus, contain various harmful substances.
In such a situation, there is a tendency that burned ash and waste glasses are, recycled for use as aggregates.
Since the burned ash contains harmful substances such as lead, zinc, other heavy metals, and organic chlorine compounds, these substances are treated and the burned ash is utilized as an aggregate in the form of slug. However, in some cases, harmful substances such as organic chlorine still remain in the burned ash even after the treatment and, thus, it is required to remove such hard-to-treat substances as a pretreatment. Also, in other cases, the removal of heavy metals in the burned ash is not sufficient enough. The burned ash can only be used as an aggregate having a large particle size, and cannot be utilized as a fine aggregate.
The process for pulverizing waste glasses into sands is problematic in that there are contents of impurities such as lead, and a high cost is required to carry out pulverization into fine aggregates.
Sands containing salts such as sea sands cannot be utilized as fine aggregates.
In recent years, a process has been developed for increasing the performance for purifying water such as that from sewage by the introduction of microorganisms into concrete. For example, there is a structural material comprising a cement and tourmaline with which Effective Microbe solution and EM material are admixed. However, this structural material utilizes expensive tourmaline, exhibits insufficient water purification performance, and requires the introduction of an EM material such as rice bran. Also, there is a disclosure that aggregates may be used instead of tourmaline. However, according to the examination, the effect of water purification in this case is worse in comparison with the use of tourmaline, and the effect obtained by the introduction of the microorganisms cannot be observed.
For this reason, aggregates which can impart water purification performance to the structural material are required.
As a possible field for making use of microorganisms, garbage treatment can be mentioned.
Wastes are generally classified into household wastes and business wastes, and these wastes are dumped into landfills or are burned in furnaces at present. However, the treatment of the waste becomes serious in terms of making the landfill safe, treating harmful gases discharged from the furnaces, and treating harmful substances contained in the burned ash.
Of these wastes, it is said that approximately 60% of wastes are made up of garbage such as leftovers and residues of cooking. Also, a large amount of garbage is discharged from restaurants, grocers, grocery stores, convenience stores, inns, hotels, hospitals, etc. It is said that approximately 30% of wastes are garbage originating both from households and businesses.
Consequently, an effective treatment of the garbage is a very serious problem in terms of the treatment of the wastes and becomes one of the most important problems in many local self-governing bodies.
As one effective treatment of the garbage, processes for treating garbage based on the functions of the decomposition and fermentation of the garbage by microorganisms can be mentioned.
These process for treating garbage utilizing microorganisms are roughly divided into (1) a process for converting the garbage into compost; and (2) a process of decreasing the volume of the garbage or essentially eliminating garbage by decomposing the garbage into CO2 and H2O.
The process for converting the garbage into compost is carried out in a container for conversion into compost called a composter or a so-called compo-planter, serving the composter and a planter at the same time. The composter is composed of a body of container comprising a vent, a space, a heat-retention layer, and a cap. First, a medium (medium for cultivation) such as chaff is spread over the interior of the body; garbage is then spread over the medium at approximately the same depth as the medium; and a material containing Bacillus, actinomycete, etc. is incorporated thereon. The medium and garbage are alternatively laminated to promote the fermentation of the garbage in order to carry out the conversion of the garbage into compost. After approximately 1 month, the garbage in the composter is fermented to produce compost.
The process for converting garbage into compost utilizing microorganisms can be carried out in the inexpensive installation as described above, but it unduly takes 1 month or more for the conversion of the garbage into compost, and the amount of the garbage which can be utilized in one treatment is restricted. Moreover, the fertilizer resulting in the treatment of the garbage smells bad, and the application of the fertilizer thus obtained sometimes causes the generation of Fusarium.
On the other hand, an apparatus for treating a relatively small amount of garbage utilizing microorganisms has been developed for use in households, restaurants, etc. This apparatus is mainly composed of a sealable container equipped with a vent, a heat-retention layer, an aeration means, a drain and a stirrer, and the bottom of the container is divided by a porous plate. A material for improving the breathability is spread over the porous plate, over which sawdust etc. is spread for the purpose of making a residence for microorganisms and adjusting the water contained in the garbage. Predetermined microorganisms are incorporated into the container, the garbage is thrown in the container, the container is sealed, and the contents are mixed with aeration being carried out by means of a vent such as a pump, whereby the garbage is decomposed into carbon dioxide and water to decrease the volume of the garbage.
According to this apparatus, approximately one kilogram of garbage can be treated daily. However, the ratio of decrease in the actual garbage is as low as from 60 to 80%. Also, the media and microorganisms utilized should be replaced every 3 to 4 months. In this apparatus, sulfurous acid, nitrogen oxides, etc. which should be removed occur in the decomposition of the garbage, and the device for removing them is very expensive.
An apparatus for decreasing a large volume of garbage has also been developed. This apparatus is composed of approximately a 500-600 liter volume sealable container having a stirring means, a vent, a deodorizing means, etc. The container is substantially filled with wooden chips such as cedar chips as a material. Then, approximately 20 kg of the garbage is incorporated into the container, the contents are intermittently mixed while supplying 100 to 300 liters of air per minute to decompose the garbage with the microorganisms contained in the chips.
However, such an apparatus for decreasing a large volume of garbage is very expensive, and sulfurous acid, nitrogen oxides, etc. which should be removed occur in the decomposition of the garbage, similar to the case of the small size apparatus described above.
As described above, the processes for converting garbage into compost leave something to be improved.
Meanwhile, many efforts have been made to convert seawater into freshwater. As processes for converting seawater into freshwater, a multiple flushing process, a multiple effect evaporation, and a reverse osmosis process can be mentioned. The multiple flushing process and the multiple effect evaporation are effective on a very large scale such as construction of a national plant, but the reverse osmosis process, which requires only a small investment in plant and equipment, has been popularized.
As processes for converting seawater into freshwater utilizing reverse osmosis, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-128325 discloses a process for obtaining freshwater having a low concentration of boron by running seawater through two reverse osmosis apparatuses placed in series by means of one pump; Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-128325 discloses an apparatus for converting seawater into freshwater composed of a reverse osmosis module, and a storage pump for pumping water produced in a water collecting pipe of the reverse osmosis.
However, these processes for converting seawater into freshwater by the reverse osmosis require a large amount of energy and complicated equipment. Also, in such processes, the amount which can be treated has severely restricted. Furthermore, the reverse osmosis itself is very expensive and the maintenance of the apparatus requires high costs.
Consequently, in addition to these approaches, there is a demand for developing a process for converting seawater into fresh water on the basis of the function of microorganisms.
As described above, microorganisms can be applied to various field in a wide variety of manners. However, in the field expected to benefit from the application of microorganisms, there has not yet been any technique which has been completed, or such a technique said to be completed only has a small effect.
From such viewpoints, as one expected group of microorganisms, a culture containing anaerobic microorganisms and aerobic microorganisms living together with each other filed by the present inventor as Japanese Patent Application No. 9-291467 can be mentioned. In this patent application, a suggestion has been made to convert chemical hazards such as dioxins into harmless substances through the function of the culture. However, the group of the microorganisms contained therein leaves something to be improved in terms of the productivity of cellulase and reducing power. Furthermore, there is a demand to utilize the group of the microorganisms as carried on a carrier.
Consequently, an object of the present invention is to determine microbiological techniques applicable to these applications and to provide microorganisms and metabolites having good effects in agricultural fields and environmental fields.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for applying these microorganisms and metabolites to these agricultural fields and environmental fields.
Still another object of the present invention is to find a novel process which apply these microbiological techniques.
The present invention concerns the following items:
1. A microorganism culture containing (a) aerobic microorganisms, (b) anaerobic microorganisms, (c) at least one Basidiomycetes belonging to Pleurotus coruncopiae, living in symbiosis with each other, and enzymes produced as their metabolites.
2. The microorganism culture as described in the above Item (1), wherein Basidiomycetes is obtained by mating Pleurotus coruncopiae with Pleurotus coruncopiae. 
3. The microorganism culture as described in the above Item (1), which further contains photosynthetic bacteria.
4. The microorganism culture as described in the above Item (3), which further contains enzymes for decomposing carbon.
5. A process for producing the microorganism culture as described in the above Item (1), which comprises the following stages:
(1) incorporating a source of aerobic microorganisms and an essence of Basidiomycetes containing at least Pleurotus coruncopiae into a solution obtained by pulverizing proteins mainly comprising animal proteins, adding grain and yeast to the pulverized substances to undergo fermentation, heating the fermented products, pulverizing the heated product, adding a Lactobacillaceae culture or a Bacillus subtilis culture to the pulverized products and fermenting the culture under aerobic conditions, and culturing the microorganisms under aerobic conditions at normal temperature and normal pressure until the solution becomes transparent; and
(2) incorporating a source of anaerobic microorganisms to the above culture and culturing the mixture under anaerobic conditions at normal temperature and normal pressure.
6. A process for producing the microorganism culture as described in the above Item (3), which comprises the following stages:
(1) incorporating a source of aerobic microorganisms and an essence of Basidiomycetes containing at least Pleurotus coruncopiae into a solution obtained by pulverizing proteins mainly comprising animal proteins, adding grain and yeast to the pulverized substances to undergo fermentation, heating the fermented products, pulverizing the heated product, adding a Lactobacillaceae culture or a Bacillus subtilis culture to the pulverized products and fermenting the culture under aerobic conditions, and culturing the microorganisms under aerobic conditions at normal temperature and normal pressure until the solution becomes transparent;
(2) incorporating a source of anaerobic microorganisms to the above culture and culturing the mixture under anaerobic conditions at normal temperature and normal pressure, and
(3) adding photosynthetic bacteria to the culture and further continuing the culturing.
7. A process for producing the microorganism culture as described in the above Item (4), which comprises the following stages:
(1) incorporating a source of aerobic microorganisms and an essence of Basidiomycetes containing at least Pleurotus coruncopiae into a solution obtained by pulverizing proteins mainly comprising animal proteins, adding grain and yeast to the pulverized substances to undergo fermentation, heating the fermented products, pulverizing the heated product, adding a Lactobacillaceae culture or a Bacillus subtilis culture to the pulverized products and fermenting the culture under aerobic conditions, and culturing the microorganisms under aerobic conditions at normal temperature and normal pressure until the solution becomes transparent;
(2) incorporating a source of anaerobic microorganisms to the above culture and culturing the mixture under anaerobic conditions at normal temperature and normal pressure,
(3) adding photosynthetic bacteria to the culture and further continuing the culturing.
(4) adding a carbon source originating from plants to the culture and further continuing the culturing, and
(5) diluting the culture obtained in Stage (4) 2 to 4 times with the culture obtained in Stage (3).
8. A carbonaceous carrier containing microorganisms and enzymes originating from these microorganisms contained in the culture of the above Item (4) in a dissolved carbon.
9. A process for producing the carrier of the above Item (8), which comprises impregnation of finely divided carbon with the culture of the above Item (4) or its diluted solution diluted with water to incorporate the active components of the culture of the above Item (4) and at the same time to dissolve the carbon.
10. A porous absorbing material containing microorganisms and enzymes originating from these microorganisms contained in the culture of the above Item (4).
11. The porous absorbing material of the above Item (10), wherein the porous absorbing material is based on an activated carbon.
12. A process for producing the porous absorbing material of the above Item (11), which comprising impregnation of a porous absorbing material with the culture of the above Item (4) or its diluted solution diluted with water to incorporate the active components of the culture of the above Item (4).
13. The process for producing the porous absorbing material of the above Item (12), wherein the porous absorbing material is based on an activated carbon.
14. The process for producing the porous absorbing material of the above Item (12), wherein said porous absorbing material is a used material, and the material is impregnated with the culture of the above Item (4) or its diluted solution diluted with water for a period sufficient for decomposing the ingredients absorbed into the porous absorbing material to simultaneously carry out the recovery of the used porous absorbing material.
15. A filter containing the porous absorbing material of the above Item (10).
16. A soil improving material obtained by spraying or impregnating in the microbiological culture of any of the above Items (1) to (4) a fibrous substance originating from plants.
17. The soil improving material of the above Item (16), wherein said fibrous substance originating from plants is sawdust of needle leaf trees, pulverized substances of logged trees, rice chaff, buckwheat chaff, construction material having been primarily treated, or a mixture thereof.
18. A process for improving soil which comprises mixing the soil improving material of the above Item (16) or (17) with a fertilizer, and placing the mixture on soil to be treated at a height of from 1 to 100 cm.
19. The process of the above Item (18), wherein said soil to be treated is soil whose crumb structure has been lost.
20. The process of the above Item (18), wherein said soil to be treated is desertified soil or soil containing salts.
21. A process for improving soil which comprises placing a fibrous substance originating from plants mixed with a fertilizer at a height of from 1 to 100 cm, and spraying the culture of any of the above Items (1) to (4) or its diluted solution diluted with water.
22. The process as described in the above Item (21), wherein said soil to be treated is soil whose crumb structure has been lost.
23. The process as described in the above Item (21), wherein said soil to be treated is desertified soil or soil containing salts.
24. A process for optimizing a plant system composed of a container for cultivating a plant, a medium for cultivating a plant, and a plant to be cultivated; which process comprises:
incorporating said plant system into a sealed container, filling the sealed container with the culture of any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water, sealing the sealed container, and leaving the sealed container stand for a period sufficient for killing disease carriers and eggs thereof existing in the system.
25. The process for optimizing a plant system as described in the above Item 24, wherein said plants to be cultivated are somewhat withered, and the revival of the plants is carried out at the same time.
26. A process for reviving a plant attacked by a pathogenic organism, which comprises:
(a) a stage of digging up the plant, and washing the whole of the plant with a solution of the microorganism culture described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water,
(b) a stage of spraying a solution of the microorganism culture described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water on the soil thus dug, and
(c) a stage for newly planting the plant and applying soil in which a solution of the microorganism culture described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water is impregnated.
27. The process for reviving a plant as described in the above Item (26), wherein said plant is injured by stem canker, and which process further comprises a stage of surgically removing the portion infected with the stem canker, applying the slurry of the above Item (8), followed by drying.
28. The process for reviving a plant as described in the above Item (26), wherein said a pathogenic organism causes drop (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum), clubroot, mottled spot, brown canker, mildew, and rust.
29. An organic fertilizer obtained by adding feces and urine of livestock to a solution of the microorganism culture described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water.
30. The fertilizer as described in the above Item (29), which has sawdust of needle leaf trees further added.
31. The process for improving soil as described in the above Item (29), wherein the fertilizer comprises the fertilizer as described in any of the above Items (18) to (21).
32. A garbage decomposing material obtained by impregnating fibrous substances originating from plants with a solution of the microorganism solution as described in any of the above Items (1) to (4).
33. The garbage decomposing material as described in the above Item (32), wherein said fibrous substances originating from plants contain hard-to-decompose substances.
34. A process for treating garbage which composes: incorporating garbage to be treated into the garbage treating material as described in the above Item (32) or (33), and stirring the mixture to decompose the garbage in an odorless manner.
35. A liquid fertilizer comprising an odorless liquid obtained from the process of the above Item 34.
36. A process for treating solid substances containing harmful substances or salts which comprises: mixing the carrier of the above Item (8) with the solid to be treated, and stirring the mixture, followed by washing with water.
37. The process as described in the above Item (36), wherein said solid substances to be treated are sands containing harmful substances or salts.
38. The process as described in the above Item (36), wherein said solid substances to be treated are burned ash or fly ash containing harmful substances.
39. A fine aggregate comprising the sand treated according the process of the above Item (37).
40. A reduction type construction material obtained from the fine aggregate of the above Item (39).
41. A fine aggregate comprising the burned ash or fly ash treated in the process of the above Item (38).
42. A reduction type construction material obtained from the fine aggregate of the above Item (41).
43. A reduction type construction material comprising the carrier of the above Item (8).
44. A process for removing water bloom which comprises spraying a solution of the microorganism solution as described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water onto water bloom caused by eutrophication.
45. A process for treating seston which comprises incorporating the carrier of the above Item (8) into water containing seston to aggregate the seston.
46. A process for treating water containing polluted sediments comprising incorporating the carrier of the above Item (8) into water containing polluted sediments to decompose the polluted sediments.
47. An aggregating agent comprising the carrier of the above Item (8).
48. A process for treating a liquid containing salts which comprises passing water containing salts through a filter containing the absorbing material of the above Item (15) once or more times to remove the salts.
49. A process for treating a liquid containing salts which comprises incorporating the carrier of the above Item (8) into water containing salts, followed by stirring.
50. The process of the above Item (49) or (50), wherein said water contains seawater, and conversion of seawater into freshwater is carried out.
51. A process for treating a liquid containing harmful substances which comprises incorporating the carrier of the above Item (8) into a liquid containing harmful substances.
52. A process for treating a liquid containing harmful substances which comprises incorporating the carrier of the above Item (8) into a liquid containing harmful substances, followed by stirring.
53. A process for treating a liquid containing harmful substances which comprises passing a liquid containing harmful substances through a filter containing the absorbing material of the above Item (15) once or more times to remove the salts.
54. A process for treating a liquid containing harmful substances which comprises:
a) incorporating the carrier of the above Item (8) into a liquid containing harmful substances, and
b) passing the liquid containing harmful substances through the filter of the above Item (15) containing the absorbing material once or more times to remove the salts.
55. The process of the above Item (54), wherein Stage (a) is carried out while stirring.
56. The process described in any of the above Items (51) to (55), wherein said liquid containing harmful substances is an exhaust liquid containing heavy metals, organic halogen compounds or petroleum, an exhaust liquid from plating, an exhaust liquid from semiconductor processing, an exhaust liquid from developing photos, an exhaust liquid containing dyestuffs, exhaust water from sewage, and an exhaust liquid containing the mixtures of harmful substances.
56. An apparatus for treating a liquid comprising:
an inlet for supplying water to be treated,
a filtering portion comprising the filter of the above Item (15) containing at least one absorbing material, and
a receiver which stores the treated water.
57. The apparatus of the above Item (56) which further comprises means for supplying the treated liquid to said filter, which is connected to the receiver, whereby the treated water is supplied to the filter after several treatment to recover the filter.
58. The apparatus of the above Item (56) or (57), which further comprises a water tank having a stirring portion for a pretreatment, and a transportation means for transporting the pretreated water to the filtering portion.
59. A process for treating a gas which comprises: a solution of the microorganism solution as described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water to a gas to be treated.
60. A process for treating a gas which comprises the absorbing material of the above Item (15).
61. The process of the above Item (59) or (60), wherein the gas to be treated is selected from among bad smells originating from organic or inorganic compounds, and gases containing organic or inorganic chemical hazards.
62. A deodorizer comprising a solution of the microorganism solution as described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water.
63. A liquid agent for decolorization of a liquid comprising a solution of the microorganism solution as described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water.
64. A process for removing harmful substances from a construction material which comprises spraying or impregnating a construction material with a solution of the microorganism solution as described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water.
65. A mildew-proofing agent comprising a solution of the microorganism solution as described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water.
66. An agent for reviving plants comprising a solution of the microorganism solution as described in any of the above Items (1) to (4) diluted with water.
67. A deodorizer comprising the carrier of the above Item (4).
68. A deodorizer comprising the absorbing material of the above Item (10).
69. A filter for treating water comprising the filter of above Item (15) containing the absorbing material.
70. An apparatus for purifying water comprising the filter of the above Item (15) containing the absorbing material.
71. A showerhead comprising the filter for treating water of the above Item (69).
72. A water-purifying agent comprising the carrier of the above Item (8).
73. A water-purifying agent comprising the absorbing material of the above Item (10).